It can be tempting in these dark days, these last days to despair and fear the devil and darkness. It says, "He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time." (Daniel 7:25). Words like these make many faint, but finish the verse and you will see triumph of the Lord, "But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever." (Daniel 7:26). This verse by Daniel is confirmed in the New Testament, "Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming." (2 Thessalonians 2:8). Our Lord and Savior is more than able to conquer, and defeat our enemies, even the Man of sin and Dragon who is Satan himself! In fact, "But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8). Our God and Savior Jesus Christ (Col 2:9) has defeated our enemy and will defeat him in our midst. We are told with confidence by the closest disciple of Jesus, "But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world." (1 John 4:4 NLT).
We live in a day and age when the dark side seems to get all the news coverage. Reports of the wicked flood the news stations and we seldom here the work of our Savior, save for on CBN.NEWS. Be encouraged brethren, for we are assured that Christ has won and is winning! "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). Paul's words urge us to remember that we are, "No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us," (Romans 8:37), and "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57). Our Lord Jesus has leveled our enemy, He rules with rod of iron, and scepter of kingship over all! He is coming and while we may for a time feel cut and craven by evil one's contraptions, we must remember Christ prevails! Here is His coming, "11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God (John 1:1,15). 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:11-16). The King of Kings, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will conquer our enemies and save His people, He will strike back at the serpent and his unholy pseudo-trinity (Revelation 13), "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; 2 because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her.” 3 And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.” 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And a voice came from the throne, saying," (Revelation 19:1-5). Our God will avenge us! He will waylay and slay Satan (Revelation 20:10), Babylon the Harlot (Revelation 19:1-3), the Man of Sin (2 Thessalonians 2:8), and He will judge all angels (1 Corinthians 6:3, Matthew 25:41) and wicked (Revelation 11:18, Matthew 25:46, 2 Timothy 4:1).
Our Lord will show His power and deliver us certainly! It is written! However, that does not mean we shall avoid tribulation, trails, testing, troubles, and hardships, "You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved," (Matthew 10:22), "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world," (John 16:33), "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken," (Matthew 24:29), "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me," (Matthew 24:9),
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first," (John 15:18), "To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne," (Revelation 3:21), "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved," (Matthew 24:12-13), "They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death," (Revelation 12:11), "strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said," (Acts 14:22), "Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses," (2 Corinthians 6:4), "we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body," (2 Corinthians 4:8-10), "Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again," (2 Corinthians 11:23), "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong," (2 Corinthians 12:10), "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything," (James 1:2-4), "The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus," (Acts 5:41, NLT), "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls," (1 Peter 1:6-9), "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name (Acts 5:41). 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." (1 Peter 4:12-19). There you have a giant sampling of Scripture telling us we shall suffering, coming from Jesus Christ's red letter words, Apostle Paul, Apostle John, Apostle Peter, and the Apostle James. The Consensus is we shall suffering, but "take heart, He has overcome the world."
We must be patient in tribulation and suffering. There are many Preterists and Partial Rapturists, and Rapturists who believe we shall be spared the Great Tribulation. To them I say these words, "If you who believe in the rapture and no tribulation are right, you can tell me the whole way up when we are caught up with Christ, 'I told you so,' but if we Post-Tribulation folk are right then you will be ill equipped to handle the hard times Scripture (I already shared the scriptures) reveals. Therefore it is better to be prepared for tribulation and be wrong, then to be ready for rapture and be wrong." (Ken Wonderly, SBC Eschatology). Another simpler and shorter phrase, "pray for rapture, prepare for tribulation." In the End Jesus Christ is coming and will avenge us. But we must be patient and endure to that end (Matthew 24:13). Amen.
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